Railway axle journal lubricator



y 2, 1956 J. J. HENNESSY 2,746,817

RAILWAY AXLE JOURNAL LUBRICATOR Filed June 2, 195:5 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 22, 56 ,1. .1. HENNESSY 2,746,817

RAILWAY AXLE JOURNAL LUBRICATOR Filed June 2, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VE TOR.

United States Patent RAILWAY AXLE JOURNAL LUBRICATOR James J. Hennessy, Chambersburg, Pa., assignor to Hennessy Lubricator Company, Inc., Chambersburg, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application June 2, 1953, Serial No. 359,030

4 Claims. Cl. 308-84) The invention relates to railway axle journal lubricators and comprises a novel pump and distributor unit adapted to be disposed within a journal box for application of the distributor over a substantially large area of the journal for delivering lubricant thereto received from the pump.

One object of the invention is to provide a lubricator having a pump, a reservoir of elevated lubricant, anda distributor pad and incorporating a plurality of valves so that lubricant readily moves through the unitto the distributor.

Another object is to provide a lubricatorhaving a pump with inlet valves at different levels so that oil from near the top of the oil level in-the journal box may be drawn into the pump, which oil will be relatively free of sediment, and such disposition of the inlet valves assures provision of oil to the lubricator even though there may be an accumulation of water in the bottom of the box.

Another object is to form a lubricant pump consisting An additional object is to provide a lubricator having a distributor contacting a reasonably'large area or the journal and which embodies a frame for'assuring proper disposition of the lubricator within the journal box, whereby the same will not become displaced through jarring and the like during movement of'the'vehicle.

These and other detailed objects areobtained by the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 1

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a railway journal box, illustrating a journal upon which it is mounted, and provided with one form of the lubricator.

Figure 2 is a perspective of the lubricator. Figure 3 is an end view of the journal box and lubricator, a portion of the box end wall being broken away. Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 44 of Figure 1. p i

Figure 5 is a plan view of the pump operating means. Figure 6 is a fragmentary vegtical.longitlldinabsection through arailwafy journal box illustrating another form of the invention. Y

Fig r 7 atop view illustrating. .another aform of valve structure. .e :-l

Eigure ,8 is asection taken on the line 8 -8 of FigureT. Figure9is adetailtop View illustrating another-formof valve structure. 1;; i Figure 10 is a section taken on the line 1010 of Figure 9.

The railway axle journal box 1 has a top wall 2, side Patented May 22, 1956 walls 3, a rear wall 4 and a bottom wall 5, the forward portion of which curves forwardly and upwardly at 6. The outer edges 7 of walls 2, 3, and 6 form the edges of an opening 8 permitting access to the interior of box 1. Projecting downwardly from the inner face of top wall 2 just rearwardly of opening 8 is a pair of transverse ribs 9. Extending inwardly through the rear end of box 1 is the usual railway axle journal 10.

A pair of spring wire supports, each comprising upstanding legs 11 and a transverse arcuate member 12, are seated upon box bottom wall 5. Horizontal rods 13 extend parallel with the journal axis and adjacent to the box side walls 3 andare received in coils 14 of supports Ill, 12.

Suspended from rods 13 by straps 15 is a combined pump body and distributor including a flexible fabric bottom wall 17 of suitable oil impervious material, such as neoprene or the like, and of sufficient width to depend below normal oil level L in the box. Above wall 17 is an intermediate wall or partition 13 preferably of the same material as wall 17 but of less width so as to beabove oil level L and cooperating with wall 17 to define a pump chamber 19.

Above partition 18 is a distributor pad 23 of less width than partition 13 and arranged to fit snugly against the journal. it cooperates with partition 18 to form a reservoir orsupply chamber 24. Pad 23 is permeable to oil under pressure from the pump and contains layers of yarn, horsehair, felt, and chenille, or the like, for filtering; the oil to remove dirt, lint, etc., and to restrain the rapid passage of the oil therethrough. The upper or journakengaging layerof pads 23 preferably consist of acov er of closely knitted hard twine or other suitable wear-resistant material. The margins of walls 17, 18 and pad 23 are stitched or otherwise secured together.

Bottom wall 17 contains a plurality of spaced apart inlet valves 25, each mounting on its inner surface the lower end of a spring 26 which bears at its upper end against themarginal portion of an aligned outlet valve 27 provided in partition 18.

'.As shown in Figure 2, inlet valves 25 are spaced about bottom wall 17 so that the valves will be at different levels whereby oil may be received from the upper portion of the supply which usually will be relatively free of lintand dirt as might accumulate on the bottom portion of thebox. In the event watercollects in the lower portion of the box, the upper inlet valves will assure the flow of water-free oil to distributor pad 23.

Pump chamber 19 may be compressed by axial play of the journal during movement of the vehicle. Mechanismeffecting this action includes a frame 39 with its lower end 30a resting on the box bottom wall. The frame has a cross bar 31 upon which is fulcrumed an operating lever having an upwardly extending contact arm 32 with button 33 pivoted on its upper end for engagement with the end-0f journal it). The lever has an arm 34 extending rearwardly from cross bar 31 with arcuate lateral extensions 34m The arm opposes bottom wall 17 of thelubricator and effects compression of the pump chamher--19 when the lever is rotated anti-clockwise.

A wire spacer with legs 35 encircles and extends .inwardly from cross bar 31 and terminates m a transverse section '36 abutting against box rear .Wall 4., The outer endof frame Sll engages the curved wall portion 6 and includes a-transverse bar 37 forming trunniops 38 pro:

je'cting' laterally from th f rame and .journaling, sleeves t blrtesa y heme snsg l t e s a rearwardly of the box to the extent permitted by spacer 35, 36.

Each outward shift of journal will rock pump arm 34 to compress .pump chamber 19 to force oil therefrom into reservoir for supplying oil to the distributor. Upon return rocking of the pump arm 34, springs 26 expand pump chamber 19 with consequent intake of oil through valves 25.

The pump body is substantially immersed in oil and the multiplicity of valve openings provided therein make the same substantially porous so that only slight compressive action of its springs will be sufiicient to cause ample oil to be supplied to the distributor.

Since the lubricator, including its supports 11, 12 is a compact unit, the same can be readily inserted in and removed from a journal box. The flexibility of the spri wire supports makes such installation and removal easily accomplished by an ordinary attendant. Furthermore, said legs assure proper positioning of the distributor against the journal and prevent accidental displacement of the lubricator.

The operating unit comprising frames 30 and 40, 41, spacer 35, 36, and the pump lever 32, 34, is readily insertable into the box and removable from the box with spacer legs at the sides of the bag-like lubricator body and with the lever arm 34 beneath the lubricator body.

Figure 6 illustrates another form of the invention in which the lubricator includes a bag-like body having a distributor pad 51 for a top member and a flexible side and lower wall-forn1ing sheet 52 suspended from rods 53, corresponding to rods i3 previously described, which are supported from frame springs 54 positioned inwardly of member 52 with their upper ends secured to rods 53 and their lower portions thrusting the side portions of member against the side walls of the box. The single compartment between pad 51 and the bottom wall formed by member 51 is filled with a mass of springy porous material 5:, such as cotton waste, animal hair, or metal fibers, tending to hold the lubricant body in expanded position.

A unit corresponding to the support structure previously described is associated with the lubricator and comprises a frame 56, a hold-down 57 and a spacer 53. A lever is fulcrumcd on cross bar 59 of the frame and includes an upwardly extending actuated arm 60 and a horizontally extending operating arm 61 underlying the lubricator body. Arm 6t; terminates in a weight element 62 adapted to oscillate the lever when the box is jolted or reciprocated laterally during travel of the vehicle. Member 52 is provided with a plurality of inlet return check valves 63. Upward movement of arm 62 compresses the lubricant body and the springy mass 55 therein, forcing lubricant against pad 51 through which it perme ates to the journal. Upon downward movement of arm 61, material 55 will expand the lubricant body and oil will be admitted through valves 63. These valves may consist of slits in member 52, each having an overlapping flap 64 (Figures 9 and 10), one side of which is secured to member 52 at one side of the slit, the flap being free to swing about its secured edge to and away from member 52 to close and open the valve.

As in the structure previously described, the lubricator body may be readily inserted into the box beneath the journal and then the actuating unit may be inserted into the box with its lever arm 61 beneath the lubricator body.

Figures 7 and 8 illustrate another form of valve structure in which the lubricator body wall has a plurality of openings fitted with grommets 71 and associated with each grommetted opening is a flap 72 secured to wall 70 and free to swing towards and away from the grommetted opening to close and open the valve.

It will be understood that all of the valve structures may be used interchangeably and that the number of valves may be varied according to the quantity of lubricant to be pumped, the viscosity of the lubricant and other conditions under which the lubricator is to be operated.

The invention may be embodied in structures differing substantially from those illustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

l. in a railway axle journal lubricator, a support frame, a lever having a fulcrum thereon and having an actuated arm extending upwardly from the fulcrum and an operating arm extending horizontally from the fulcrum, a lubricant pump and distributor unit comprising a. pad of fibrous material of shallow thickness and having a substantially greater width and length and having a concave upper face for application to a journal to be lubricated, a bag-like structure suspended from the sides and ends of said pad and provided with inlet valves at substantially different levels, said valves accommodating inlet of oil to the interior of the structure and automatically checking discharge therefrom, and spring means supporting the sides and ends of said pad and bag-like structure above said lever horizontal arm.

2. A lubricator according to claim l, in which the baglike structure is provided with a partition intermediate the pad and the bottom of said structure, said partition bcing impervious to oil and provided with an upwardly opening return-check valve leading from the lower portion of the structure to the upper portion of the structure.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a shallow, relatively wide, long pad of felt-like material permeable to oil applied to a face thereof, the upper face of said pad being concave, n bag-like structure suspended from the sides and ends of said pad and provided with intake returncheck valves at different levels, there being a partition impervious to oil extending between the sides and ends of said structure intermediate the pad and the bottom of the structure, and vertically yielding springs having lower portions below the level of the bottom of said bag-like structure and having upper portions supporting the edges of the pad and the suspended structure from a supporting surface spaced beneath the structure.

4. In combination with a railway axle journal and a journal box carried thereby, a lubricator comprising an upwardly concave distributor pad extending substantially the full length of the journal and throughout approximately the lowermost quarter of its periphery, bag-like structure depending from the marginal portions of said pad and forming side, end, and bottom walls of an oilreceiving chamber, a partition in said chamber providing upper and lower compartments therein, means in the lower compartment yieldingly distending it, return-check inlet valves in said walls leading to the interior of the chamber and in said partition leading from the lower compartment to the upper compartment, means yicldingly supporting said distributor pad and said structure on the bottom of the box, and a device mounted on the bottom of the box for pumping lubricant from the box into said lower chamber by alternately compressing and releasing said bag-like structure, said device being actuated by the relative movement of the journal and box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 228,657 Luders June 8, 1880 368,937 Flynt Aug. 30, 1887 2,044,248 Keys June 16, 1936 2,049,225 Ripley July 28, 1936 2,639,200 Hennessy May 19, 1953 

